The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte "Adopts" Eastway MIddle School, Providing Learning, Hospitality and Community Mentoring

The ladies and gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte recently “adopted” a class of students for the second half of this past school year, initiating a program by which the hotel team could provide extracurricular experiences for local children attending a nearby school. The selected partner was Eastway Middle School, located on Norland Road and home to the Jaguars.

School outreach by the hotel included an early invitation for members of one Eastway class to visit The Ritz-Carlton for a presentation on Teamwork and Healthy Food Groups. The students were given a tour of the hotel and provided with lunch, presented with compliments of The Ritz-Carlton chefs. On another occasion, members of the hotel team visited the school and worked with the same class to discuss presentation skills and prepare “Get Well Soon” cards for young patients at Levine Children’s Hospital.

The hotel’s most recent visit with the class included a presentation on Healthy Food Handling, along with the shared preparation of “no-sew” blankets for Levine Children’s Hospital. The hotel’s school adoption program featured other activities as well. In one case, The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte hosted Eastway Middle School’s Gen-One Program for a presentation on Social Etiquette Skills, accompanied by a hotel tour and complimentary lunch. The Gen-One Program works with children from middle school through high school so that they may become the first within their families to attend college.

The coming school year will bring further outreach by the hotel, which launched this program as part of its “Community Footprints” commitment. Community Footprints is a social and environmental responsibility initiative of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, whereby hotels mobilize their resources and skill-based volunteer efforts to make a difference in the areas of child well-being, hunger and poverty relief, and environmental responsibility. Related to this program, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company was the first Founding Partner of IMPACT 2030, a private sector-led initiative created in collaboration with the United Nations and other global stakeholders. Impact 2030 marshals corporate volunteering actions to positively impact the lives of others and to leave an imprint on individual communities.